Girl testifies Cozzie attacked her before murder

Steven Cozzie looks back at family members in the courtroom on Tuesday at the Walton County courthouse in DeFuniak Springs during the penalty phase of his trial. Cozzie was found guilty of 1st degree murder for the death of Courtney Wilkes on Friday.

NICK TOMECEK / Daily News

By ANGEL McCURDY / Daily News

Published: Tuesday, June 18, 2013 at 08:16 PM.

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — A young Kentucky girl took the stand Tuesday to describe an attack at Cassine Gardens just one week before 15-year-old Courtney Wilkes’ body was found two years ago.

The now 16-year-old girl from Glasgow, Ky., told jurors the boy she knew only as Steven tried to strangle her, pushed her to the ground and demanded she remove her clothes.

“I was scared to death,” said the girl, who was 14 at the time. “He kept telling me to take my clothes off, and I was about to but I said no and just yelled, ‘No, no, no.’ Then he said, ‘OK, OK. I can’t do this.’ ”

Jurors listened to the girl’s testimony during the second day of the death penalty hearing for 23-year-old Steven Cozzie, who was convicted Friday of first-degree premeditated murder for killing Wilkes in the same area of Seagrove Beach on June 16, 2011.

The girl’s grandmother, who picked her up after the alleged attack, told jurors that because she hadn’t been hurt the family decided not to call law enforcement.

“We just made a poor choice,” the woman said, reaching for a tissue as she began to cry. “That failure was on our part. Maybe if we’d let (the girl) decide, we would have called the police and there would have been a different outcome.”

This week’s hearing will determine whether Cozzie is sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. The jury will recommend a sentence to Walton County Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells, who will make the ruling.

DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — A young Kentucky girl took the stand Tuesday to describe an attack at Cassine Gardens just one week before 15-year-old Courtney Wilkes’ body was found two years ago.

The now 16-year-old girl from Glasgow, Ky., told jurors the boy she knew only as Steven tried to strangle her, pushed her to the ground and demanded she remove her clothes.

“I was scared to death,” said the girl, who was 14 at the time. “He kept telling me to take my clothes off, and I was about to but I said no and just yelled, ‘No, no, no.’ Then he said, ‘OK, OK. I can’t do this.’ ”

Jurors listened to the girl’s testimony during the second day of the death penalty hearing for 23-year-old Steven Cozzie, who was convicted Friday of first-degree premeditated murder for killing Wilkes in the same area of Seagrove Beach on June 16, 2011.

The girl’s grandmother, who picked her up after the alleged attack, told
jurors that because she hadn’t been hurt the family decided not to call law enforcement.

“We just made a poor choice,” the woman said, reaching for a tissue as
she began to cry. “That failure was on our part. Maybe if we’d let (the girl) decide, we would have called the police and there would have been a different outcome.”

This week’s hearing will determine whether Cozzie is sentenced to death or life in prison without parole. The jury will recommend a sentence to Walton County Circuit Judge Kelvin Wells, who will make the ruling.

Cozzie’s attorneys called several members of his family to testify. Each of them described his troubled life.

“He was being bounced back and forth. … He didn’t have a stable life,”
said his uncle, Robert R. Cozzie. “He needed a secure place to grow up, but I don’t think he got that.”

Cozzie’s 21-year-old half-sister testified that he molested her when she was a young girl.

She said while in school Cozzie was picked on constantly, as if he “had a target on him.” She said the small boy would never stand up for himself even when his half-brother beat him.

The Cozzie children grew up in challenging circumstances, his half-sister added. His two youngest half-sisters allegedly were molested by a relativewhile they lived with him and his mother slept with several young boys while Cozzie was in high school. The family moved constantly from state to state and there was constant bullying at home and at school.

“He was a vulnerable person,” she said. “He was easy to mess with
and he couldn’t stick up for himself, and if he did it was just him crying.”

Her brother added to the details of Cozzie’s early
life, such as drug use in the home, sexual exploits between two brothers and constant beatings from family members.

Psychologist Stephen Zieman of Pensacola said if Cozzie had a structured home he could have overcome his obstacles.

“He has an IQ of 83. … That means he is only smarter than 13 percent
of the 23-year-olds in the U.S.,” Zieman said. “This is who Steven is. He just can’t think the way the rest of the world can.”

The hearing will resume at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at the Walton County Courthouse in DeFuniak Springs.